This was the hardest assignment I gave myself. And here I am, sitting at my computer one day before I want this blog to launch and I’m still debating if I made the right choices.
There isn’t a wedding invitation suite I designed in 2019 that I didn’t like for some reason. That sounds phony but I’m 100% honest-to-God truthful in that statement. Every invitation I designed had a story, just like the couple I designed them for. Every invitation had something unique, thoughtful or just down right cool.
But I did dive in and picked my top 5 invitations of 2019. All of these have a different reason for being picked. Some of them is because of the print process, the design process or just the entire story wrapped together.
Here we go! My top 5 invitations of 2019 in no particular order!
1. Lynda and Rob
Lynda and Rob were a fun couple to work with. Rob knew he wanted something amazing a unique for their Cape Cod destination wedding, so he found me and then handed everything over to Lynda to myself.
Lynda mentioned several times they are “older” for getting married (age is only a number) so their wedding was small and intimate, but wanted to give their guests an invitation that they would remember AND give them all the information they needed for the weekend long celebration.
We created a square pocket invitation with a watercolor Cape Cod map in the background. The pocket had cards that had all the information their guests needed including a fold out watercolor map showing their guests the highlighted locations of the Cape.
Not ever have visited Cape Cod, this little map was a challenge. But Lynda and I worked together well to dial in the details and make it look unique and amazing.
Reason for the Top 5 pick: The detail that went into this piece was a lot. Mainly, that map was a challenge for me to create, but the end result was fantastic. This couple trusted me to put together one piece with a lot of info, and we got that done.
2. Kara & Jared
When little sister gets married the year after daughter #2, you know the parents have their go-to list of wedding vendors to work with. I was lucky enough to work with the Knobel family last year for their daughter Haley’s wedding and this year, Kara was on deck.
When I meet with sisters, I usually hear the same thing. “I want something kinda like my sisters, but completely different.” Of course you do 🙂 And what we designed for Haley was gorgeous but her own thing.
We letterpressed Kara & Jared’s invitation with black, rose gold and a blind press. This is the first time I’ve done a blind impress on a wedding invitation and I was SUPER excited when Haley was on board with this. We paired it with a blush ribbon, blush envelope and rose gold glitter envelope liners. Seriously, this had to catch the attention of every guest who received it.
Reason for the Top 5 pick: The blind impress. Again, I was doing it for the first time on a wedding invitation. I knew the result would be fantastic, which it was, and finally found a couple who wanted to pull the trigger on a look like this. Also, working with a family I loved last year was a definite bonus.
3. Hannah & Michael
I didn’t pick Hannah and Michael’s invitation just because it’s the last one of 2019. In fact, they probably JUST went out in the mail. The reason I picked them is because of the simplicity of the design (which I personally love) yet the little something different – the envelope liner.
I had two invitations in 2019 that had a look like this (Amanda & Eric), so it was a tough call between the two, but I ultimately went with Hannah & Michael’s invitation because of the one-color letterpress we did on every single piece (plus an extra card!).
Not to mention the white ink belly band adorned with their wedding date tying everything together…just icing on the cake.
Reason for the Top 5 pick: Simplicity. I am a simple elegance type of person, so I love when a bride has this similar style for design. Designing is easy because it’s like designing for myself! And I love the black and white beauty of this invitation as well.
4. Jill & Nathan
I will honestly say I will never forget this invitation.
For one, all black. ALL BLACK. That is unique and definitely on trend for what I’m seeing in the upcoming years. So the fact that this couple was on board with a trend that hasn’t quite gotten to the Midwest yet…I’m on board.
Secondly…gold metallic ink envelopes. Holy smokes this was amazing. Again, this is the first time I’ve used a process like this and after finding out that my print shop couldn’t get this done like I thought, I panicked. Like super duper panicked. I hate delivering bad news to a couple of out of stock paper or something else out of my control. And this was one of those times.
I lost sleep, I swore a lot (that’s what I do) but after a few days, my original print shop got their printer fixed and we were back in business.
We gold foiled each card of this suite including the RSVP which was on a dark green paper (I mean, guests gotta write on it). The entire suite was wrapped in a dark green velvet ribbon and that envelope liner is to die for.
Reason for the Top 5 pick: Duh. This invitation suite is amazing. Maybe the most extravagant, original and fun I’ve ever designed. This one is going into a special file that I may just hang on to forever.
5. Emily & Issac
Sometimes it’s not so much the design but the story. And for Emily & Issac it’s exactly that. Their invitation is beautiful. Downright gorgeous. Emily and her mom picked up her invitations from my house one evening and they both were in tears when they saw them. Best. Reaction. Ever.
Why I may never forget this couple (and Emily’s Mom, Mary) is the drama that we had coming up to their wedding day. A wedding vendor they hired to do a large portion of their big day wasn’t getting back to them. And as time went on, rumors were out there that this vendor was dropping the ball on weddings entirely.
I had a phone call with Mary one morning to tell her all the things I’ve been hearing because I wanted them to know. This vendor was a BIG part of their wedding and I can’t imagine not knowing if someone would show up for your wedding. She was distraught, which I totally understood, but I’m so glad I told her so they could make a game plan on how to move forward with or without this vendor.
And as I write this blog, we’re only 2 weeks away from Emily & Issac’s wedding and plans are still being put into place, but I can honestly say that this wedding will be amazing. The family is so down-to-earth and they know they just want to celebrate the marriage of these two wonderful people.
The invitations of course are amazing. Cotton paper, gold foil and a glitter gold belly band. I mean, what’s not to love about these?
Reason for the Top 5 pick: I seem to prove to myself every year it’s more than just invitations. It’s the relationships I make along the way. I (somewhat) jokingly invited the Linafelter’s to our Christmas this year because I feel I know them so well. And vise versa 🙂 It’s still weird to me that a little thing like invitations can turn into so much more for me.
